Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
The Simpsons Season 9 Episodes
Season 9 Episode Guide
25 Episodes 1997 - 1998
Episode 1
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson
Sun, Sep 21, 199730 mins
After Barney has mysteriously driven the Simpsons' car to New York and abandoned it there the family set out to retrieve it. However it has accrued many parking tickets and a clamp and,whilst Homer is waiting for a parking officer to remove the clamp,he gets caught short and needs the toilet, thereby missing meeting the officer. He decides to take drastic action to remove the clamp,which leads to the family driving home in a severely damaged vehicle.
Episode 2
The Principal and the Pauper
Sun, Sep 28, 199730 mins
At his 20th anniversary celebration as school principal, Principal Skinner is discovered to be an imposter of the real Seymour Skinner.
Episode 3
Lisa's Sax
Sun, Oct 19, 199730 mins
When Lisa's saxophone gets flattened by a truck,Homer recalls how he came to buy it for her. Bart had just started school but Lisa was so gifted he was told learning an instrument would nurture her talents and he spent the money ear-marked for the air conditioning system on it, even having it engraved - after a fashion. Now is the time to spend what it is left in the air conditioning fund on another sax.
Episode 4
Treehouse of Horror VIII
Sun, Oct 26, 199730 mins
Homer battles mutants after Springfield is annihilated by a neutron bomb; Bart has his DNA mixed with a fly; Marge is revealed to be a witch in colonial Springfield.
Episode 5
The Cartridge Family
Sun, Nov 2, 199730 mins
After a massive soccer riot, Homer purchases a gun to protect the family.
Episode 6
Bart Star
Sun, Nov 9, 199730 mins
A pee-wee football team forms as a solution to Springfield's growing childhood obesity crisis. When Homer takes over as coach after causing Flanders to quit, he tries to make Bart the star of the team despite his poor performance on the field.
Episode 7
The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons
Sun, Nov 16, 199730 mins
Shop-keeper Apu is deemed to be Springfield's most eligible bachelor and dates several women so he is upset to learn that the time has come for his arranged marriage. When Apu's mother turns up in town Homer persuades a reluctant Marge to pose as Apu's wife in order to put off the union but the deception wears thin and they are forced to tell the truth. Fortunately the arranged bride Manjula turns out to be wholly to Apu's liking.
Episode 8
Lisa the Skeptic
Sun, Nov 23, 199730 mins
When the school goes on an archaeological dig and unearths what appears to be the skeleton of an angel,Lisa courts controversy by doubting its authenticity,leading to a heated debate between skeptics and believers. When the angel is found to carry the words Prepare for the End,the townsfolk fear that their days are numbered but Lisa is exonerated when the whole exercise proves to be no more than an advertisement for a new shopping mall.
Episode 9
Realty Bites
Sun, Dec 7, 199730 mins
Marge gets a job with Lionel Hutz as a real estate agent but she is so honest in her opinions of the properties that she fails to sell a single house and Hutz tells her she will be fired unless she can make a sale. She succeeds in selling a house which was once the scene of a brutal murder to Ned and Maude Flanders but feels guilty about it and tries to talk them out of the sale. However the house gets destroyed in a police chase and Marge,having handed back the Flanders's money,gets the sack.
Episode 10
Miracle on Evergreen Terrace
Sun, Dec 21, 199730 mins
When Bart accidentally burns down the family's Christmas tree and gifts, he claims that a robber stole everything. As a result, the town gets them a new tree and pitches in to raise funds.
Episode 11
All Singing, All Dancing
Sun, Jan 4, 199830 mins
Homer is disappointed when the western he rented turns out to be a musical, so the family reminds him of the musical moments in the show's history.
Episode 12
Bart Carny
Sun, Jan 11, 199830 mins
Whilst at the carnival Homer and Bart accidentally put two of its workers, Cooder and his son Spud, out of business, and invite them to stay at the house. However, the couple lure the Simpsons away with the promise of a free boat ride and take over the house, changing the locks. Homer challenges Cooder to a little game, the winner of which takes possession of the house - but of course Homer cheats to obtain his victory.
Episode 13
The Joy of Sect
Sun, Feb 8, 199830 mins
Many of the townsfolk of Springfield become brain-washed by a religious sect known as the Movementarians, including the Simpsons,who move into the giant compound run by the sect and its chief,the Leader. Marge,however,resists being totally brain-washed and manages to escape,bringing the Reverend Lovejoy and Ned to help free her family. The Leader tries to escape with the group members' money on what appears to be a spaceship but it is only a bike with wings and he literally falls to earth.
Episode 14
Das Bus
Sun, Feb 15, 199830 mins
Against Marge's wishes, the family stays up for a movie adaptation of "Noah's Ark," which turns out to be a very long (and bombastic) Troy McClure adaptation. The movie runs all night, and a very tired Bart and Lisa head off to school while Homer calls in sick, claiming that his family came down with smallpox. At school, Bart and Lisa are participating in a Model United Nations Club meeting (which doesn't go very well) before leaving for an excursion. During the trip, the children's antics cause an accident; Otto was trying to brake to avoid a steep hill, and when he finally is able to slam on the brakes, the juice from a grapefruit (which had been lodged beneath the brake pedal) squirts into Otto's eyes, blinding him and causing him to steer the bus off a high suspension bridge. The bridge plunges into a river. Otto swims away "for help," but is swept away by a tidal wave; he is later rescued by Chinese fishermen. The schoolchildren, meanwhile, escape the bus and are washed ashore on a desert island. There, Bart puts up his bravado and insists that survival on a desert island is just like on television, but harsh reality sets in and the children soon realize they have no survivalist skills. Eventually, Bart is able to secure a cooler full of snack food items left in the bus; the hungry children chow down, but Lisa demands they ration the food (since it could be days before they are rescued). However, everyone awakens the next morning to discover the rations are gone and - due to circumstantial evidence - immediately suspect Milhouse. A trial is immediately held, where Milhouse insists a monster was to blame. Without evidence to confirm his other classmates' suspicions, Bart acquits Milhouse, making everyone else (except for Lisa) very angry. The others chase after the three and they corner them in a cave ... where the monster - which turns out to be a wild boar - lurks. On one of its tusks is an empty bag of potato chips, which immediately lets Milhouse off the hook. The children later kill the boar and eat it; Lisa, since she is a vegetarian, forces herself to eat the slime that was the boar's food source. At the end, a narrator (James Earl Jones) says the children are eventually rescued ... "by, let's say, Moe." In the subplot, Ned Flanders' mail gets mixed in with the Simpsons, and one of the letters is for "Flandcrest Enterprises," which turns out to be an Internet business Ned and Maude have started (they sell religious book rugs). Homer sees profit potential and decides to start his own online business, Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net. His first customer is Comic Book Guy ... and the only one, as it turns out, since Bill Gates and two goons immediately "buy out" Homer by trashing his entire living room!
Episode 15
The Last Temptation of Krust
Sun, Feb 22, 199830 mins
Bart arranges for Krusty to perform at a comedy festival where his old-fashioned gags go down very badly alongside more modern comics. Bart takes the disillusioned clown home where Krusty is appalled by all the merchandise bearing his name and relaunches himself as a critic of the consumer society and its greed.
Episode 16
Dumbbell Indemnity
Sun, Mar 1, 199830 mins
Moe cannot believe his luck when he starts dating Renee,an attractive florist,but she is also something of a gold-digger and Moe fears that he will lose her unless he can keep buying her expensive presents. When the money runs out he comes up with a plan - Homer will see that his car gets written off so he can claim the insurance. In fact the plans goes totally awry,leaving Homer in prison.
Episode 17
Lisa the Simpson
Sun, Mar 8, 199830 mins
Lisa fears she is losing her intelligence when she learns about the fabled Simpson gene. Meanwhile, Jasper freezes himself in the Kwik-E-Mart freezer.
Episode 18
This Little Wiggy
Sun, Mar 22, 199830 mins
Feeling sorry for Ralph Wiggum,Marge invites him to play with Bart - who is hugely embarrassed until he learns that Ralph has access to his father's key-chain and can unlock any door in Springfield. After a night using the keys the boys end up in the disused jail,where they inadvertently activate the electric chair,causing problems for Mayor Quimby,who is visiting the jail next day, Disaster is averted,thanks to Lisa but Ralph's sinister imaginary friend,a leprechaun,has the last word.
Episode 19
Simpson Tide
Sun, Mar 29, 199830 mins
Bart has his ear pierced and gets an ear-ring but Homer confiscates it.Later Homer and some colleagues join the Naval Reserve and sail on a submarine,where Homer accidentally fires the captain out of the torpedo hatch and,left in charge,allows the sub to drift inti enemy waters. It is attacked and springs a leak but Homer saves the day by sealing it with Bart's ear-ring before returning home for a dishonorable discharge.
Episode 20
The Trouble with Trillions
Sun, Apr 5, 199830 mins
Homer is forced to spy for the IRS after an audit. But when he is asked to retrieve a trillion dollar bill from Mr. Burns, he switches sides and the two flee to Cuba for refuge.
Episode 21
Girly Edition
Sun, Apr 19, 199830 mins
During a prank that goes wrong Bart destroys Groundskeeper Willie's shack. At the same time lazy Homer is getting a helper monkey called Mojo to do his chores and Lisa is the anchor on a children's T.V. news show. When Bart joins her as co-presenter and they start to compete for stories she takes her revenge by sending him to the scrapyard where Willie is sleeping rough.
Episode 22
Trash of the Titans
Sun, Apr 26, 199830 mins
Homer stands against Ray Patterson for the post of Springfield's sanitation officer,getting rid of the town's garbage. To Patterson's horror Homer wins on the promise that he can do cheap waste disposal underground but this leads to an explosion and the need to relocate the whole town to a site several miles down the road.
Episode 23
King of the Hill
Sun, May 3, 199830 mins
After meeting film star Rainier Wolfcastle at the gym ,Homer is volunteered by Bart to climb the treacherous local mountain the Murderhorn,as a publicity stunt for energy bars after Wolfcastle pulls out.Homer makes the climb despite warnings from Grampa and the exit of his sherpas and,at the top,makes a grisly discovery which helps his descent.
Episode 24
Lost Our Lisa
Sun, May 10, 199830 mins
Lisa gets lost after she tries to take a bus to a museum.
Episode 25
Natural Born Kissers
Sun, May 17, 199822 mins
Marge and Homer discover that,by making love in public places, their sex life takes on an exciting new twist. They are almost caught in the nude at the novelty putting green, which leads to their having to make their escape in an air balloon which, unfortunately for them, having flown over a church with a glass roof with Homer hanging from the basket, comes to a stop in a crowded football stadium.
